EXCLUSIVE: In a move that’s likely to shock the twickerati (that’s you, btw) to their very core, we can exclusively reveal that we’re not actually aware of any cafes opening since our last high street update. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that no cafes have opened, it just means we’re not aware of any. Get in! Not to be put off we’ve decided to do a high street update anyway. Why? Because we love ’em, you love ’em and, perhaps, they love ’em even though, if we’re honest, we’re not actually sure who ‘they’ are. Richmond Council, perhaps? Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, maybe? No one knows. And more importantly, no one cares. But what we can reveal is the following: Habibe a womenswear, tailoring and alterations shop has opened on Heath Road just up from Rubens Bakehouse.

And talking of Rubens Bakehouse, proprietor Igor has expanded into the adjoining unit and is now offering a simple but very tasty pizza menu in his new Ruben’s Refettorio. Word to the wise… it’s BYO on the booze front which has to be good news ‘in these difficult times’. We don’t do reviews here at twickerati – that’s your job – but suffice it to say that if you love the bread, you’ll love the pizzas too. And we speak from experience, dear reader.
Work is underway, albeit slowly, to refit Angelo’s. A new business, Sapori TW1, is currently applying for an alcohol licence. So, no cafe there just yet but it looks to be happening. Twickenham Cycling Club must be getting excited.

Also on Heath Road, Morrisons M Local is now open for business in the former Blockbuster store. Perfect if you can’t face making the dash between M&S Simply Food and Tesco Express without needing a quick shop. Next up, Aldi?? It could happen.

On Cross Deep, the new funeral directors, Lodge Brothers, is currently being fitted out for all your funeral related requirements. That will make three such establishments in central Twickenham. Feel free to make your own funeral related jokes.

The Twickenham Tavern is now open and, after an anonymous start, now has its sign up too. It’s doing a fair bit to promote itself on Twitter and we certainly hope it does better than the previous incarnations in that location.

Head down Church Street and you’ll find a new toy shop, Angels & Heroes. Twickenham has been without a dedicated toy shop for a while although Happicraft does cover some of that territory. Given the sheer volume of families with young children in the area it could do well, but you’ll need to ‘shop local’ to help it along of course! It seems a long time since Church Street’s previous toy shop, in what is now part of Osteria Pulcinella, was used for the classic ‘pirate memory game’ sketch in Little Britain. Margaret!!

And in Water Lane, furniture store Emily’s in now doubling up as Twickenham Stamps and Postcards. It’s a venture from Alan Winter, the man who’s been championing the idea of an indoor community market for Twickenham.

Elsewhere, Hair Institute on London Road, the gents barber that never even got round to having a permanent sign has moved on to hair-related pastures new whilst Thomas Cook has also abandoned Twickenham. And on York Street, we could at last be about to see the emergence of Foxtons in the former Shanghai Village restaurant. It certainly looks as if things might be happening there.

So that’s all for now. No new coffee houses to report but we’re sure you can cope with that. We’ll leave you with some pictures of some of the new arrivals. Gawd bless ’em each and every one!

“Giving drinks licence to Harris and Hoole coffee shop will lead to drunkeness and urinating in street, says angry of Twickenham”

I’m quite amused by the fuss that has appeared in today’s Evening Standard. Apparently Harris+Hoole, who have taken over the old Superdrug shop on St Margarets Rd (where Phelps antique emporium used to be) have applied for an alcohol licence. How awful is that? I have visions of young mums and dads clasping glasses of Pinot Grigio and Corona beer racing Bugaboos down the mean pavements of Broadway Avenue towards the Turks Head and finishing at St Stephens School where there little ones might urinate!

I’m sure that Mark Halton, a member of the police licencing team usually knows what he is talking about, however he suggests that “it will attract street drinkers to the area and this will cause an increase in anti-social behaviour.” What “street drinker” will go into an H+H, chat to a barrista and stagger out onto the pavement with an overpriced bottle of Corona when he or she could just as easily pop into Tesco, their sister company next door for a 4 pack of whatever takes their fancy?
Alexis
PS: A warning to new mums – don’t worry about street drinkers but do take care of your buggies, particularly bugaboos – apparently they are being stolen to order. Our daughter’s was stolen from a supposedly secure nursery in Fulham. The girls who nicked it were caught on CCTV and recognised by the local WPC – they got £70 for a £700 buggy which was a combined grandparental present – never to be seen again. A loss for us but a probable lifechanger for the 3 teenage girls. How sad.

Two funeral firms really: Sanders & Higgs and Wake & Paine are now just trading names of Dignity plc; Lodge Bros is owned by the Lodge family. Go back to the 1970s and W.A.Wake (further down Church Street), F.W.Paine and Sanders & Higgs (originally B.G.Higgs) were three separate firms.

It is a shame that Morrisons didn’t appreciate that their new market street concept, described here, http://clayearthcafe.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/morrisons-market-street/ would have gone down well in Twickers. We could have had a golden triangle, actually quadrangle, of meat, fish, veg and herbs and bread. As it is it is just somewhere else to go when you run out of washing up liquid or milk. I suffered a real attack of disorientation when I happened upon one of these Morrisons whilst getting stuff for the camp site barbie, it was like being in some foodie nirvana, whereas the new one that has opened in Twickers is disappointingly prosaic.

Sorry to be picky, Russel, but isn’t Reubens’ new pizza extention, strictly speaking, a cafe? So we haven’t escaped entirely. But there are now more eateries in Twickers than there are mouths, so I’ve given up caring.

Any more thoughts about having a market in Diamond Jubilee Gardens?
It’s in a good location and has plenty of facilities nearby. An ideal place for antiques, books, retro gear, ephemera and art and crafts, perhaps even food.
Maybe a themed market could be held on different days?
It would also act as a showcase for local talent, especially as Par-Ici has now gone.
Over these past warm days, something like that would bring a lot of folk into Twickenham, who would then probably spend more time and money in the town.

Hi Russell, a good update as ever. You may have seen the internal works are progressing on the new and long awaited Foxtons Estate Agents in York Street, presumably the appeal about their non traditional shop front has been finalised, I shall check what the final outcome was.

There is another refit going on above Rileys, the Indian restaurant is turning I hear into a burger/TexMex restaurant plenty of safe buggy park space downstairs so I hear which is good news as this is a big family restaurant space and no doubt another big capacity for the rugby matches a year we have here.

Also there appears to be movement in the Old Langtons Bookshop, the old wedding hire shop Dappers I believe has permission to turn into a cafe, and I see the old kebab shop/cafe in York Street is having another serious go at turning into something else.

I was in the garden of York Street Cafe yesterday with a friend and her one year old who is now standing, what a safe environment this now feels with both the amazing astroturf put down inspired by the ‘grassing of Church Street’ as part of the Twickenham Town Summer/Garden Festival, so not only is this surface really gentle for the youngsters, she was totally entranced with the lego table and was engaged much to her mother’s delight for half an hour of respite, her daughter was playing with other children there too, what a find under the amazing wysteria pergola!

While I truly appreciate that York street is now looking better and further improvements on that side of Twickenham are planned —- what is going to happen with what I consider to be the WORST side of the high street, Heath Road? It’s really depressing walking down that road, so many neglected empty shops and buildings.
My understanding is that Whitton is getting some funds to give a “face lift” to some of the high street shops, what can we do to help Heath Road?

No. I suspect that it will take another couple of years of decline before councils around the country start to do this. Not a criticism of them or LBRuT, by the way. It’s not an easy thing to declare that high streets are too big—people’s jobs are at stake, after all.

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